Slicing machine



April 2, 1940.l w E. uRscHEL ET Al. 2,195,879v

sLIcING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS WILL/AM E. URSCHEL 8 JOE R. URSCHEL BY WW? A TTORNEY April 2,194@ l w. E. uRscHEl. Er AL. 2,195,879

SLICING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22. 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JOE R. URSCHEL /7 /g BY ,70 /f ATTORNEY April 2, 1940. w. E. uRscHEl. er AL 2,195,879

SLICING MACHINE Filed Dec. 22, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 INVENTORS WILLIAM E. URSCHEL 8 JOE" R. URSCHEL BY www A TTORNEY Patented Apr. 2, 1940 -Unirso STATES @PATENT orrics lWilliam E. Urschel and Joe R. Urschel, Valparaiso, Ind.

.Application Decemberv 22, 1937, Serial No. 181,082 9 claims. (Cl. 14e-165) Thisinvention relates to machines of the charac'terA for slicingfruit or vegetables and the like, and has to do particularly vwith such amachine of thecentrifugal type.

Persons aslthose engaged in the canning'industry vand who frequentlyprepare agricultural products by cutting themintOsmaHer pieces in the form of strips, cubes or slices `prefer that the pieces shall be geometrically regular. That is, if the processor cuts theA articles of a product into strips he .prefers that each of the strips shall be uniform in cross-section. throughoutv `its length; if the .articlesare diced it is desirable that each of the resulting fragments shall be in the shape 'of a true cube of the same dimensions as the others; and likewise, if the articles are sliced the nished product will be of a fancier grade if the slices are equalin thicknessand each slice is uniform in` thickness. l

Slices that are lwedge-shape or thicker ynear one edge than another arez known in ythe trade `as chips. Chips are undesirable.`

, Although many slicing machines have been built heretofore', some of iwlfiichfare.elaboratein parts, none has satisfactorily minimized-the percentage of chips occurring in the finished prod-` uct. yIt has been found that this shortcoming of prior machines is present -in part at least-because `of their failureto-fhold the articles with sumc'ient -iirmnes's during l thefslicing operation,

andl the further yfailure to prevent shifting or rolling ofthe articles relatively tothe cutting instrumentality `within the times betweenA severance of successive slices.` It is, therefore;y anobject of the present inventiony tol provide an improved slicingT machine which is operable to maintain articles treated thereby 4in the yproper position with respect to a slicing knife l`during the entire period slices are being removed and thus insiue the production ofslices uniform in--thickness-throughout.

A further object or the prese-nt inventionis the provision of a-novel slicing machine/thatlis simple in design while at the Sametime embodying principles of mecha-nies which lend toa Inachine adapted to operate elciently upon articles fedlthereinto andr without becoming clogged or jammed. l

The above and other desirable objects will appear hereinafter in thedescription of the'invention with referenceto l'the accompanying three sheets of drawings hereby made a part ofxthis specifications and wherein: f

,.Figpl is vafsideelevation of a `machine -constructeds'. accordingto the present `invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken axially through the article receivingchamber and driving gear housing of the machine shownvin Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of therotor employedvin the illustrated machine;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken on the line 4f!! of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 isa sectional viewof a knife blade and holder therefore, taken lsubstantially onthe line 5 5 of Fig. 1;

a-Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the hopper and article receiving chamber of the illustrated machine; and

c Fig. Tisa fragmentary plan view of thel article receiving chamber and rotor of the illustrated machine.

`,The same reference characters `are used for designating similar parts wheresjhown in various iigures of the drawings and described hereinafter.

Reference should rst be had toFigs. land 2 vwhich'show a bench lil in supportof themachine. Said bench lil includes like side members llandlZ each of which is. provided With legsY l 3.

The side members Il and l2 are joined together in spaced relation vat their uppery ends `vby acapfl .which lhas a central opening l5. v*Bolts IGare used for securing the cap Ill tothebench orframe sidefmembers il and l2. The cap |-4 has integral therewith the .lower part il o'f .a gear housingv I8 and a bearing i9, YSaidgear housing landr .bearing i9 are. supported within the cap I4 by radially extending arms Ztl.' I

`The upper part 2i of thegear housing i3 includes-a bearing 22 which is in' axial alignment with the .bearing lil. The bearingfZZis provided With-a ilange 23 near its upper end,H said flange being in support of asubstantiallycircular plate 24 .which constitutes the lowery end or bottom of "an article receiving chamber generally. desighated-25. .Bolts 26 areused for securingl the bottom plate 24 to the iiange y23.

A motor 2l, which provides driving power for the machine, is supported by and contained within the bench Ill. vSaid motorissupported upon two transverse bars 28V' and 29 of .which the opposite ends rest upon and arev secured to sections` 30 of the side members lil andA l2. A pulley 3| is secured to the -drive shaft 32 of the motor 27 and a driving belt 33 which' is driven by the pulley 3| transmits driving force to a pulley 34 upon a shaft.; 35 which is journalled in bearings and 3l of the gear housing i3. The shaft 35-,will-be seen in Fig. 2 to `have' a worm 38A nonrotatively-secured lthereto l for driving aworm wheel 39 which is keyed or otherwise suitably secured non-rotatively to a vertical shaft 40. Shaft 4D is journalled in bearings I3 and 22. The upper end of the shaft 40 has a tapered section 4l extending into the hub 42 of a rotor or impeller 43. A connection is established between the shaft 46 and the hub 42 by a nut 41 turned onto the reduced and threaded upper end of said shaft. A washer 48 is inserted between the nut 41 and the upper end of the hub 42. Axial movement of the shaft 40 is thus precluded relatively to the hub 42 which rests upon the upper end of bearing 22.

The rotor 43 comprises a circular bottom plate 44 integral with the hub 42 and an annular top plate 45 containing a large opening 46. It may be seen in Figs. 2 and 3 that the rotor 43 comprises a plurality of paddles or impeller members 49 of which the outer edges align with the outer peripheries of the lower and upper plates 44 and 45. Said paddles 49 are spaced equidistantly from one another and their leading faces 50 are disposed within vertical planes arranged tangentially of a circle 5l shown as a dot-dash line co-axial with the impeller 43. The tangential planes are indicated by straight dotdash lines 52. Paddles 49 are disposed in such an angular relation within the rotor 43 so as to resist unwanted displacement of articles treated by the machine as will be fully explained hereinafter. When the machine is set in motion the rotor 43 is driven in the direction indicated by the arrow 53, Fig. 3.

Rotor 43 is encased within the herein above mentioned chamber 25. A plan view of the bottom or lower end wall 24 of the chamber 25 is shown in Fig. 4. Said lower end wall 24 is provided with apertured ears 54 and has a ange 55 extending approximately 270 about its periphery. A segmental recess 56 is formed within the upper face of said lower end wall, and a segmental plate 51 is slidably disposed within said recess, said plate 51 having a flange 58 which aligns with the flange 55 upon the end wall 24. Segmental plate 51 is apertured at 59 for receiving a plow bolt 66. The bolt 66 extends downwardyl through an elongated curved aperture 6l within the recessed section of said end wall 24. A washer 62 and a nut 63 are provided upon the end of the bolt 66 beneath said end wall 24- and cooperate with said bolt for clamping the segmental plate 51 in selected position against said end wall. A notch 90 in the end wall 24 enables the machine to discharge (without cutting) such articles or parts thereof that are tenacious or which are otherwise of a character making them unadapted for treatment in the present machine.

The flanges 55 and 58 respectively upon the end wall 24 and the segmental plate 51 serve as retaining and guide means for a flexible side wall member 64 of the chamber 25. Said side wall member is secured along its lower edge to the end plate 24 by means of bolts 65 and is held in the desired substantially cylindrical formation along its upper edge by groove seats 66 within the lower face of ears 61 of a plate 68. After the side wall 64 has been assembled with the machine, the ears 61 which are apertured and which register with the ears 54 upon the` end plate 24 are secured to the ears 54 by means of bolts 69.

It will be noted the flexible metal strip from which the side wall 64 of the article receiving chamber is formed is of such a length that the end sections thereof are disposed in spaced-apart opposed relation when assembled upon the machine. One end section designated 1U, Fig. 6, of the side Wall 64 is cut diagonally so the end 1l thereof extends downwardly and forwardly in the direction of rotation of the rotor 43 indicated by the arrow 12. End section 10 of the side wall 64 is reinforced by a plate 13 which is secured to such end section by bolt 14. The opposite end of the side Wall 64 is provided with a blade 15 having a cutting edge 16 extending in parallelism with the side wall edge 1l diagonally of the axial elements Within said wall. In Fig. 6 it will be seen that the bevel 11 of the cutting edge 16 of blade 15 is disposed exteriorly of the chamber 25 so the apex of the cutting edge coincides with the inner face of said blade. The blade 15 is retained in conformity with the cylindrical inner periphery of the chamber side wall 64 by a curved plate 18 which is secured to the side wall 64 by bolts 19. A clamp member shown in Figs. l and 5 and provided with a thumb screw 8| may be employed for securing the blade 15 against the curved inner face of the plate 18. The blade 15 is also pressed against the inner face of the plate 18 by the outer edge of end wall 24 against which the blade 15 is clamped by the plate 16.

When the side wall opening is considered with reference to the direction in which the rotor 43 is propelled, the edge thereof bounded by the blade 15 is the advanced edge. Such advanced edge is also the upper edge since it overlies the opposite or under edge designated 1|.

Because of the flexibility of the side Wall 64, its end section 1U may be moved outwardly or inwardly radially of the chamber 25 to adjust the inner face of such wall section laterally with respect to the cutting edge 16 of blade 15. The segmental plate 51 which is secured to the wall section 16 by means of the lower of the bolts 14 is moved incident to this radial movement of the wall section, the nut 63 upon the bolt 60 being loosened at the time of such movement or adjustment and being tightened subsequent to the adjustment so that the same may be maintained. Adjustment of the wall section 10 radially of the chamber 25 is limited by the length of the elongated aperture 6l within the end wall 24.

A hopper 82 is used for holding and guiding articles to be operated upon by the machine into the article receiving chamber 25. Said hopper 82 has about its lower end a flange 83 which fits into a large circular opening 46 within the collar or plate 68.

Operation of the machine The machine is set in motion by the driving motor 21 which, through the pulley 3l, driving belt 33, pulley 34, shaft 35, worm 38, worm wheel 39 and the vertical shaft 40 causes rotation of the rotor 43 in the direction of the arrows 12 and 85 respectively shown in Figs. 6 and '1. Articles such as vegetables designated 86 in Fig. 7 and which have been fed into the machine through the hopper 82 are moved by the paddles 49 in the direction of arrow 85. Centrifugal force acting upon the articles 86 will cause them to impinge against the substantially circular wall 64 and when the articles are carried against the cutting edge 16 of the blade 15 slices 81 will be removed therefrom as illustrated in Fig. '1. When the machine is operated at normal speed the inertia of the slices will cause them to precipitate outwardly through the side wall opening where they may be caught 'upon a conveyor or in a suitable retentacle. The `thier-inea of the slices '-81 winde- 'pend'upon A'the -adjustmentof the Wall section '10 `radially of the-chamber v25; that is, b'ylo'osening the nut upon the plowbolt -6 the segmental plate 57 and the wall section -70 may be moved radially 4inwardly oroutwardly incident to'iie'xing the'wall 'Mat a transversesection-slightly to',- the right of the plate 13 as viewed in`E-ig. 6. After the desired adjustment has been made itcan be vmaintained by tightening the Vnut 63 of plow bolt Si); Since ythe side lwall 64 isbent but slightly when the side wall section `'Ill is adjusted, said side wall remains lsubstantially cylindrical and thus avoid sharp wall deflections which if present would cause injury tothe rapidly moving articles pressed thereagainst by centrifugal force.

lim

' forced into the blade l5. Subsequent to the knife entering an article as it is forced therepast 'said knife has the effect of augmenting the tendency of the paddles to hold thearticle/rmly against the side Wall shand this tendency obtains since l the bevel 'ill is disposed 'exteriorly of the blade 'I5 and thus deiiects radially outwardly of the chamber that portionof the article being severed as a slice. The unsevered portion of the'slice serves'as a ligature through which the deflected severed portion ofth'e slice exerts force upon the main body of the article.

Should there become lodgeduponthecutting edge of the blade '15a foreign object or an exceptionally tough articlev peel or the like that resists slicing,such object or peel will be' struck by succeeding articles, and thus advanced forwardly and downwardly and eventually discharged outwardly of the machine through the opening formed by the notch SG. The `machine therefore hasthe advantage of'autornaticallyl clearing itself of debris, thus enabling it toremain in constant operation without the intervention of an attendant.

A further advantage,v gained by slanting the 4knife edge 'i6I downwardly and forwardly in the direction indicated by arrow 12,'Fi'g. 6, isthat the articles, when striking such knife edge, are crowded downwardly into 'firm engagement with the ,"oor of chamber 25. .This crowding action upon the articles also .offers resistance to Ytheir displacement other than movement with the paddles 49, so after-.a substantially latface has been effected upon an articleby the removal of a slice, that face will remain atly against the interior of the chamber' sidewall. We have, therefore,

" taken advantage of gravitational force, centrifugal forceA andthe force exerted by a diagonally disposed knife to maintain articles in a selected position with respect to the knife cutting edge at the time slices are removed, and in so doing have devised a simple machine adapted to operate in a much more ecacious manner. than comparatively complicated machines heretofore provided forl the same purpose.

We claim: K 1. In a fruit or vegetable slicing machme of Ithe character wherein adhesive, atmosphericand -centrifugal forces yare employed -for resisting unwanted movementfof 'fruit 'or' vegetable 'articles operated `uponv thereby, la "receiving lchamber lfor articles to be sliced bysaid machine, said chamber comprisinga frame anda exiblesheet hav`` 'ing'forwa'rd and backend sections, said sheet be- Aing 4bent substantially into the shape of a cylinder to effect a substantiallycontinuous vertical slide wall-for said chamber and said frame empresenting its 'cutting-edgefin opposed spaced relation with the end of the backend section to provide a discharge opening =for the chamberja Areinforcing plate secured upon `theouter face of said back-end section, said'back end section and a section adjacent'thereto being'unsecured in the frame to enable said backend section to be adjusted vradially'of the chamber incident to flexing said adjacent section, a member operablyI connected with said back end section of the sheet and 'movable' therewith radially of the chamben'means cooperable with said member for securing said 'back end section in selected-radial positions, an

impelier in said chamber rotatable coaXially of the cylindrical wall, said mpeller including paddle members disposed for sweeping closely about the cylindrical ychamber' wall during such rotation, and means for'rotatingthe'impeller inthe directionto cause the paddles to sweep consecutively past said back end section, -said knife and said forward end section in the-'order named.

2. The combination set forth in claim l and Vwhereinthe edge of the back end'section of the ilexibl'e'sheetis formed diagonally to eifec-t an advanced lower end thereof with respect to the upper end of such edge, wherein the knife cutting edge is disposed diagonally 'of the cylindrical chamber .wall in opposed parallelism with said diagonal edge of the sheet and thus presents the lower end of Said cutting edge in a more advanced position circumferentiallyof the cylinder than the upper end of said cutting edge, and where- `in there is a chamber bottom member having a cut-away section in registry with the advanced end of the knife. c

3. The combination'set'forth in claim l' wherein there is a chamber end Wall presenting a fiat' horizontal face, and wherein the member connected with said back end section has a curvilinear edge portion substantially coextensive with said back end section circumferentially of the chamber, the curvilinear portion of said memberbeing engaged substantially throughout its length with said back end section andv being l secured thereto as bracing means therefor, said member also having abroad at horizontal face y flatly bearing upon the face of said end wall and slidable rthereon during radial adjustment of said backend section, and the'means for secur ing said back end section in selected radial positions being adapted to clamp said flat faces of said member and of the chamber` end wall flatly together to prevent sliding movement therebetween and to brace said member against tilting.

4. In a fruit or vegetable slicing machine, an article holding chamber comprising a substantially cylindrical side wall and an end wall, said machine being of the character wherein adhesive, atmospheric and centrifugal forces are employed for holding juice-laden articles against said side wall and for resisting unwanted movement of said articles relatively to said wall during operation of the machine, impeller means for advancing such articles circumferentially about the inner periphery of said side wall, said side wall having therein a narrow opening provided with an advanced sharpened edge and an edge opposed thereto and including a knife member bearing such sharpened edge, the inner periphery of said wall being smooth in its entire reach about the chamber from said knife member to said opposed edge of the narrow opening, the section of said wall bearing said opposed edge and a section of said wall adjacent to but spaced from said wall section being comparatively rigid, said adjacent rigid wall section being fixed upon the chamber, and there being, between and interconnecting said rigid wall sections, a bendable wall section to provide for adjustment of the first of said rigid wall sections and of the opposed edge thereon radially of said chamber without incurring a sharp break in the wall curvature.

5. In a fruit or vegetable slicing machine, an article holding chamber comprising a substantially cylindrical side wall and an end wall, said machine being of the character wherein adhesive, atmospheric and centrifugal forces are employed for holding juice-laden articles against said side wall and for resisting unwanted movement of said articles relatively to said wall during operation of the machine, impeller means ior advancing such articles circumferentially about the inner periphery of said side wall, said side wall having therein a narrow opening provided with an advanced sharpened edge and an edge opposed thereto and including a knife member bearing such sharpened edge, the inner periphery of said wall being smooth in its entire reach about the chamber from said knife member to said opposed edge of the narrow opening, the section of said wall bearing one of said -edges and a section of said wall adjacent to but spaced from said wall section being comparatively rigid, said adjacent rigid wall section being xed upon the chamber, and there being, between and interconnecting said rigid wall sections, a bendable wall section to provide for adjustment of the rst of said rigid wall sections and of the edge thereon radially of said chamber without incurring a sharp break in the wall curvature.

6. In a centrifugal slicing machine, a receiving chamber for articles to be sliced by said machine, said chamber comprising a substantially cylindrical side wall having an elongated opening extending diagonally of the axial elements of said wall and thus providing an advanced edge bounding one side of the opening and an advanced end of such opening circumferentially of said wall, impeller means for advancing said articles, ciroumferentially about the inner periphery of said side wall, said advanced edge of the opening being sharpened, said advanced end of the opening being unclosed to accommodate the sliding of uncuttable material endwise from said sharpened edge, and said chamber having a discharge opening for said uncuttable material in registry with the advanced end of the knife axially of the chamber.

7. In a centrifugal slicing machine, a receiving chamber for articles to be sliced by said machine, said chamber comprising a bottom end wall and a substantially cylindrical vertical side wall having a slit-like opening therein provided with an open lower end and extending diagonally of the axial elements of said side wall thus providing an advanced upper edge and a lower edge bounding opposite sides of the opening, impeller means for advancing said articles circumferentially about the inner periphery of said side wall, the advanced upper edge of said slit-like opening being sharpened to effect a cutting edge, the lower edge of said opening being oiT-set with respect to said cutting edge radially outwardly of the side wall, and there being in said bottom wall a refuse discharge opening below and in registry with the lower open end of the slit-like opening.

8. In a fruit or vegetable slicing machine, an article holding chamber comprising an end wall and a substantially cylindrical side wall, said machine being of' the character wherein adhesive, atmospheric and centrifugal forces are employed for holding juice-laden skin-bearing articles against said wall and for resisting unwanted movement thereof relatively to said wall during operation of the machine, impeller means for advancing said articles circumferentially about the inner periphery of said wall, said side wall having therein a narrow opening provided with an advanced sharpened edge and an edge opposed thereto and directed diagonally of the axial elements in said side wall, said opening being unclosed at its end adjacent to said end wall, and said end wall having a refuse discharge opening communicative with the unclosed end of said narrow side wall opening and in registry with the adjacent end of said sharpened edge axially of said chamber.

9. In a fruit or Vegetable slicing machine of the character wherein adhesive, atmospheric and centrifugal forces are employed for resisting unwanted movement of fruit or vegetable articles operated upon thereby, an article holding chamber comprising a bottom wall and a Substantially vertical cylindrical side wall, said side wall having therein a narrow opening directed diagonally of the axial elements in said side wall, said diagonal opening being provided with an upper advanced sharpened edge, a lower opposed edge and an advanced unclosed lower end adjacent to said bottom wall, said bottom wall having a refuse discharge opening below and communicative with the unclosed end of said diagonal opening, the section of said wall bearing one of said edges and a section of said wall adjacent to but spaced from said wall section being comparatively rigid, the second of said rigid wall sections being fixed upon said chamber, and there being, between said wall sections, a bendable wall section to provide for adjustment of the rst named wall section andv of the edge thereon radially of said chamber.

WILLIAM E. URSCHEL. JOE R. URSCHEL. 

